Apparatus for advancing and severing strands



July 29, 1952 D. c. ROBSON 2,604,942

APPARATUS FOR Anvmcryc AND SEVERING STRANDS Filed Oct. 28} 1948 2 1 6 z c 5 Z 2.

K I Q {a I o O l g a Q5 my v I INVENTOR C. ROBS ON A'TTORNEK July 29, 1952 D. c. R'oBsoN APPARATUS FOR ADVANCING AND SEVERING STRANDS Filed 001;. 28, 1948 2 SI-IEETS-SHEE'I 2 IN l/EN TOP 0. C. ROBSO/V A fro mv s r Patented July 29, 1952 APPARATUS FOR ADVANCING AND SEVERING STRANDS Duel C. Robson, Baltimore, Md, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 28, 1948, Serial No. 57,014

.This invention relates toapparatus for advancing and severing strands, and more particularly to apparatus for advancing and severing conductors.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for advancing and severing strands.

A further object of the invention is toprovide new and improved apparatus for advancing and severing conductors without interrupting the ad- ,vancement of the conductors.

An apparatus illustrating, certain features of the invention may include a pair of cutting members, means for pushing a strand past the cutting members, and means for closing the cutting members to sever the strand, one of said cutting members being provided with a cutaway portion to permit the severed end of the conductor to be pushed past the cutting members after a out has been made and before the cutting members have been-opened, and for camming the strand out of the path of the cutting member having the cutaway portion as the cutting members are opened.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of an apparatus forming'a specific embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus forming one embodiment of the invention.

. Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary front elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 with portions thereof broken away, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary'section taken along line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a dual conductor I is advanced by a. capstan l2 (Fig. 2) from a continuously operable apparatus, such as a continuous vulcanizing machine (not shown). The capstan I2 is driven by an electrical motor M, which may be controlled by a suitable control circuit, such as that disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 80,476, filed March 9, 1949, by W. DrBoynton, now Patent No. 2,561,725, patented July 24, 1951, for Coiling Filamentary Articles. A presser belt l6 presses 3 Claims. (Cl. 164 4'7) closed in a guard housing the dual conductor I0 against the capstan I2 so that the capstan serves to push th conductor l0 through a guide tube it, past a shear 20 and through a guide tube 22 having a bell-mouth entrance portion 24 to a guide sheave 26 of a suitable coiler 28. One type of coiler that may be used is the dual head coiler disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 738,444, filed March 31, 1947, by E. D. Hanson, now Patent No.

tubes [8 and 22. toward the 2 2,561,736, patented July 24, 1951, for Apparatus for Coiling Filaments. The strand may be ,taken up from the guide sheave 26 alternately by a coiling head 38 and a coiling head 32.

The shear 29 includes an anvil portiont l having a shearing'edge 36 and a movable knife 38 mounted on a ram All which is urged upwardly, as viewed in Fig. '2, by a compression spring '42 mounted on a guide rod 43 and a compression spring 44 mounted on a piston rod 45. The' ram 40 is fastened to the piston rod 45 secured to a piston 45 mounted in a pneumatic cylinder n to which a pile 48 leads to a solenoid operated yalve 49. A supply pipe 5i9connects the valve'w to a suitable source of supply of air under pressure and an exhaust pipe 5i is connectedfto' the valve 49. The capstan I2 and the shear 20 "are en- 52 to prevent, accidental injury from the shear. J

After the coiling head is filled, the control circuit associated therewith actuates the valve 49 to supply air under pressure to the upperend of the cylinder 47. This forces the knife 38 down wardly, as viewed in Fig. 3,'and a slanting'cuttin'g edge 53 of the knife 38, moves past the'shearing edge 36 of the anvil 3 3- to sever the conductor I 0. The knife 38 is provided with a recess portion 54, which permits the conductor lflto be advanced past the knife as the knife reaches its lowermost position, as'viewed in Fig. 3. The newly formed leading end of the conductor is guided by'the guide tube 18 into. the vbellmouth portion'z l of the guide tube 22, and the capstan I 2 andthe the tube 22. The conductor is fed through ,the

/ guide sheavezfi (Fig. 1) until a suflicient length thereof has been fed to permit it to be attached to the coiling head 32.

'Thecontrol circuit. then stops the motor l 4' and the capstan l2. l

After the newly formed end of the conductor i9 is started through the guide tube 22 and the advancement of the conductor isstoppedfthe control circuit'actuates'the valve 49 to connect the pipe 48 with the exhaust pipe 5| so that the pressure on the air in the cylinder 41 is relieved,

and the springs 42 and 44 raise the ram 49 and the knife 38 to the normal positions thereof. As the knife 33 is raised, a cam portion 56 engages the conductor l0 and deflects the conductor l 0 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 3, until the knife 38 clears the conductor It.

The cutting stroke of the knife 38 is made quickly so that while the cut is being made the portion of the conductor l9 between the knife 38 and the capstan I2 buckles only slightly even though the capstan l2 pushes the conductor through the tube 18 at a high rate of speed. The tube I8 is sufficiently large to permit such slight buckling but is small enough that, when the knife reaches its lowermost position, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, the tube It guides the conductor so that the newly formed end thereof enters the bellmouth portion 24 of the guide tube 22. As the knife 38 is moved away from the position thereof shown in broken lines in Fig. 3 to the position thereof in full lines shown in Fig. 3, the tubes l8 and 22 permit sufficient deflection of the conductor to clear the knife 38 as the camming portion 56 of the knife moves the conductor to one side, but prevent undue deflection of the conductor.

With the apparatus described hereinabove the conductor may be cut at a distance far enough from the coiler 28 to provide clearance around the coiler for the operator and the shear may be completely enclosed. The advancement of the conductor need not be slowed or stopped during the severing operation so that the severed end of the conductor may be fed to the coiler 28 without interruption of the feeding of the conductor. Furthermore, the apparatus is simple and inexpensive in construction and is efiective in operation.

What is claimed is:

I. An apparatus for advancing and severing strands without interrupting the advancement of the strands, which comprises a bellmouth guide tube, means for advancing a strand continuously along a predetermined path toward the bellmouth guide tube, an anvil having a shearing edge positioned on one side of the path of the strand and between the strand-advancing means and the bellmouth guide tube, a cutting blade normally positioned on the other side of the strand and reciprocable along a predetermined line to the anvil to shear the strand and movable along said line past the anvil entirely out of the path of the strand, and means for reciprocating the blade past the anvil and returning the blade to its normal position, said blade having a cutting edge positioned transversely of the line of movement of the blade and an angular shank portion extending from the cutting edge to a completely cutaway recess portion so that the newly formed leading end of the strand may be advanced through the recess portion without contacting the blade after the blade has sheared the strand and moved past the anvil, said angular shank portion serving to deflect the strand out of the path of the cutting edge as the blade is returned to its normal position on the other side of the strand.

2. An apparatus for advancing and severin strands, which comprises means for advancing a strand continuously along a predetermined path, a stationary cutting element positioned on one side of the path of the strand, a movable cutting element having a cutting portion and a shank portion normally positioned on the other side of the path of the strand and reciprocable along a predetermined line to the stationary cutting element to shear the conductor and movable past the stationary cutting element to a position entirely out of the path of the strand, the cutting portion of the movable cutting element extending generally tranversely to the line of movement thereof and the shank portion'having a completely cutaway portion adjacent to the cutting portion so that the newly formed end of the strand may be advanced past the movable cutting element through the cutaway portion thereof after that cutting element has been moved past the stationary cutting element, means for deflecting the strand out of the path of the movable cutting element as that element is moved away from the stationary cutting element, and means for reciprocating the movable cutting element along said line.

3. An apparatus for cutting sections from advancing strands without interrupting the advancement of the strands, which comprises a pair of longitudinally spaced guides, means for pushing a strand through the guides, a stationary cutting element positioned between the guides on one side of a strand pushed therethrough, a movable cutting element normally being positioned on the side of the strand opposite to that at which the stationary cutting element is positioned, the

movable cutting element having a wedge-shaped shank portion having a completely cutaway recess portion and having a cutting edge along one edge nearest the stationary cutting element for coacting with the stationary cutting element to shear a strand advanced therebetween, means for moving the movable cutting element toward and beyond the stationary cutting element until the newly formed leading end of the sheared strand may be advanced through the recess portion of the movable cut-ting element, and means for retracting the movable cutting element to its normal position, the wedge-shaped shank portion of the movable cutting element serving to deflect the strand laterally with respect to the movable cutting element as it is retracted to clear the movable cuttingelement from the strand, the guides serving to restrict lateral movement of the strand as the movable cutting element is retracted.

DUER C. ROBSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 2,441,837 ,Ness et al. May 18,1948 

